First US Cobalt Mining Operation to Begin After More Than 30-Year Hiatus

Booming demand for batteries powering the world’s shift into electric vehicles is rekindling US cobalt production after at least a 30-year hiatus.

Australia-based Jervois Global Ltd. is starting the first US cobalt mine in Idaho on Friday, according to chief executive Bryce Crocker. The mineral sits “at the top of the table” in terms of national security, said Crocker.

“There aren’t many new sources of supply, particularly in stable jurisdictions, which is why this mine in the US is very important,” he said. Cobalt hasn’t been produced in the US since at least 1994, according to data from the United States Geological Survey.

Cobalt is a crucial component in EV batteries and is on the US government’s critical-minerals list. The US sees widespread adoption of electric vehicles as key to its efforts to combat climate change. Both California and New York have passed laws that will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles in the coming decades. As automakers gear up to achieve ambitious electrification goals, it’s causing a shortage of materials needed in batteries and sparked a global rush to secure those supplies.

The level of urgency among manufacturers to secure supplies “is profoundly different than it was even two or three years ago,” said Crocker in an interview. “It’s now very elevated in terms of focus at the director and the board level,” he said.